Phillip Holifield, driving his Spec Miata racer, eschews at least one element of the above advice, although despite his impromptu offroading expedition resulting in an unexpected extra passenger, he still manages to pown Thunderhill’s 3 miles of macadam. His Mazda also sounds pretty sick, even with the intake blocked with a ride-along Caltrans cone. Way to go Phil!

Sears and Thunderhill are the only two I've driven in a "proper" race vehicle, LeMons Mustang. I have driven Laguna Seca leisurely in Dad's 1952 Ford F3 when Ford was a featured marque. Come to think of it i was hauling ass in the truck at the time. topped out at 65 in the 3 spd. All three were great fun for different reasons. Next month I get to sample Buttonwillow.

There's a story in autocross circles about a guy in a Lotus Seven replica who spun out and hit a cone with one of the front wheels, only to have it flip up and land squarely in his lap. After a moment to recover, he did the only thing that made sense to him — drive back to where he spun out, reach out and drop the cone back into its box, and finish his run. It was by no means the fastest time on the day, but by re-entering the course where he left it, he avoided a DNF, and (despite some consternation on the part of the corner workers) it was scored as a clean run.